Ian flies the world

Japan - like nowhere else on earth

7 April 1992 Air New Zealand 33 Auckland to Tokyo Narita,
Business

We had arranged for a shuttle to come and collect us from
the hotel and take us to the airport, all of which happened
before it was properly light. Once at the airport, check-in ran
smoothly, for which we were grateful. Rather than go to the
lounge, we decided to go to the viewing gallery and playground,
where there was a chance to look at aeroplanes and play on
slides.

Before long, it was time to board. Business Class
passengers were invited to board, but not First Class
passengers, for a reason which will become apparent later, but
which puzzled me at the time.

The flight to Tokyo is a long one by any definition, but
this one seemed longer still. As we were asked to fasten our
seatbelts as we encountered some turbulence, I did so and then
fastened my son's belt. His declaration that he had a sore tummy
was followed immediately by the inevitable consequence of that
state. As none of us were in the best of health, this was not
good, but we made the best of it. There is nothing else to do in
the circumstances.

Rather than dwell on such things, I shall talk about some
rather brighter and more interesting things about the flight.
Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean was back on the screen, bringing
amusement to the small number of passengers on board. To be
precise, there were seventy-seven passengers on this Air New
Zealand Boeing 747-200. Of these, eleven were travelling in the
front in Business Class while nobody at all was travelling
upstairs in First Class. This explained why they hadn't been
called for boarding at Auckland.

Time continued to pass, but in all fairness the flight is
something of a blur in my mind.

Japanese immigration and customs were most straightforward
but with longer queues than some I have known. However, after
arriving in the country, there is always the adventure of
getting to the hotel. In Tokyo, this will always be a problem as
Narita is about 70 kilometres from the city.

Japan, it seems, has numerous different types of trains,
offering different amounts of speed and comfort for differing
prices. As non-residents, we could qualify for Japan rail
passes, which allow transport in virtually all trains for a
fixed price. Similar packages are available world-wide for non-
residents of just about any country with moderate amounts of
internal rail or air travel.

The Narita Express offers reserved seat service straight
to Tokyo rail station, a journey time of 53 minutes. One thing
that nobody tells you in advance is that all seats must be
reserved, and that you cannot reserve seats before arriving in
Japan. Nor are you told that the trains are completely full and
that amount of luggage space does not allow for those on a round
the world trip with two children. (The children do not pay a
rail fare, so they do not get any seat at all.) Most
importantly, nobody points out that Tokyo station is enormous in
the extreme, the Narita Express comes in at the lowest level and
almost none of the signs are in English.

The journey from Tokyo Narita into the city was pleasant
enough if a little cramped, but the journey from the bottom of
the station to the taxi rank was a nightmare. But for the
kindness of one Japanese businessman we met on the train, we
would probably still be trying to get to the street. Remember
that we had just flown a long way with a child under one year
and a sick child under three, both of whom by this stage were
nearly asleep.

The Japanese have a reputation for being standoffish and
inscrutable. I found them neither. This man helped us with our
luggage, showed us through the labyrinth of corridors, doors,
turnstiles and escalators to the taxi rank, a journey for us all
of over half an hour, which he could have walked steadily alone
in less than ten minutes. Ask whether, after a long flight
yourself, you would have been prepared to assist a foreign
family in your own country. I think the answer will be in the
negative. For us, it may not be in future.

Our hotel in Ginza, a main commercial area of Tokyo was
adequate, but the room was rather small. This was partly because
two enormous cots were added to a room which already contained a
double bed large enough to be suitable for four people. Partly
because we were so tired that we failed to notice that there
were wardrobes for our suitcases, a fact we failed to notice
until we were checking out. I am still happy to recommend the
Ginza Tobu/Ramada Renaissance Hotel.

Our stay in Tokyo was quiet, punctuated by shopping trips
to some of Tokyo's department stores. One afternoon was taken up
by deciding that it was necessary to take a trip to see a doctor
about my son, who was no better. A telephone call to the British
Embassy pointed us to a clinic, which pointed us to another, and
finally to a third, who were able to see us that day. They
proved to be a twenty minute taxi ride away, in an area with
considerable American influence. The doctor who saw us really
couldn't offer us much practical assistance. A primary health
care leaflet on diarrhoea, which told us little we didn't
already know, was all we got for JPY5000. However, a slight bonus
was received in another way. The surgery was located above an
American supermarket. We were able to find our way around this
much more easily, and were able to buy coffee, sugar, milk,
bread, bananas and such things fairly easily.

The next morning we travelled on the Shinkansen or bullet
train from Tokyo to Kyoto. These names, incidentally, are not
anagrams in the Katakana script. The journey time is just over
two hours, and I recommend travelling by Shinkansen if you are
able. The Shinkansen or "new railway" offers fast passenger
service between major centres in Japan. In my limited
experience, they were never late. This is probably because no
other trains travel on their lines, which were laid separately
to the existing lines which carry freight and other passenger
traffic. The frequency with which the trains leave Tokyo is
quite astonishing, and indicative of the large number of
travellers who are in A but wish to be in B as soon as possible.

Arrival in Kyoto was followed by hunting for the hotel,
which was supposed to be right next to the station and may well
have been so. The Dai San Tower Hotel was most interesting as a
place to stay. At reception, I was puzzled to be told that our
room would be Japanese style rather than Western style. On
arrival at the room this did indeed prove to be the case. A door
led to the room, which was a wooden platform followed by four
mattresses laid out on a woven floor. Four sets of house
slippers were by the door. A tea set was on a low table in the
main room, and a television stood at one end of the room. The
windows had small paper panes in a wooden frame, although
ordinary glass windows outside would be visible when these were
opened. At first I was not at all taken with this, but I soon
warmed to the idea. The kimonos on the bed were what one might
expect too. A different pair of slippers was found in the
toilet. I am told it is a faux pas without equal to wear
ordinary house slippers in the lavatory, and vice versa. Almost
as bad is wearing ordinary shoes on the matting surface. These
were things I had read about living in a Japanese house or a
ryokan, but I never expected to put the knowledge into practice.

I could almost hear the dialogue between my travel agent
and the hotel management, warning that a room for four would be
Japanese style. I could hear the reply, assuring the proprietor
that he was sure we would love it.

In fact, we did. It was the best night we had travelling
around the world. Other features of the hotel were its lack of
room service, compensated by a large number of vending machines
outside the room. Did you ever try sake? It's like weak sherry,
served in a cup larger than you would normally use for serving
sherry. From a mini-bar in a Tokyo hotel, JPY800. From a vending
machine in a Kyoto hotel, JPY300.

Being the ancient capital, Kyoto has much more for the
tourist. The first afternoon, we visited a beautiful temple and
grounds. The next day, we had booked a half-day tour. It never
occurred to us that the weather would not be so good. As we
awoke, it became apparent that we should have considered this.
It was pouring with rain, which somewhat detracted from the
beauty of the golden temple, the imperial palace and the shogun
palace. Perhaps I could say more about them. If you want
details, go there yourself or get a specialist book on Kyoto! I
did end up buying some Kyoto blend green tea. I liked it, but
nobody else who has tried it since seems to share my enthusiasm
for it. At the end of the morning, we had lunch in a leading
Kyoto store before buying a few other things and returning to
the hotel to pick up our bags before returning to Tokyo by
Shinkansen train. It was on this train that I tried my most
genuine Japanese cuisine, although fried rice is pretty much the
same anywhere.

Back in Tokyo, we knew what to do and were soon in a taxi
on the way to the hotel. On arrival, we checked in and signed
for the goods we had left behind earlier in the week, which had
been handed in to their Lost Property department. I wonder how
much we lose in each hotel to which we never return.